Stop waiting

Chapter 5

It's Crush. Fuck. I hate it when he sees me like this. It's humiliating to see me all upset with teary eyes. I don't want him to think I'm weak and unable to handle my emotions. I wipe my tears but it's no use. Tears start running down my cheeks. He then stopped right in front of me, out of breath, as if he had just run a marathon. Despite all the sweat on his forehead, I could tell he seemed worried.

"Cherie, what happened? Is everything okay?" He asked. But I didn't respond. Instead, I faced the ground and stayed silent. I didn't want him tangled in all my problems. Last night was already enough. I didn't wanna add it up.

"Cherie, look at me. What's wrong?" I stayed silent, but this time I was facing him. He looked at me and saw my swollen eyes. I tried my best not to cry even more, as if I hadn't cried enough. "I wanna help you Cherie, but how can I if you don't tell me anything?" I looked back at the ground, thinking about what to say. As I turned towards him again, I tried to form out a sentence but each time I tried to speak, I felt my eyes getting watery, making me choke on my own sentence. I was stuck. I couldn't speak. Even if I wanted to, it was no use. Nothing was coming out. Suddenly Crush held my hand and looked at me.

"Don't panic, take as much time as you need."

As soon as he said those words, I hugged him and started crying uncontrollably. And without saying anything, Crush hugged me tightly, reassuring me he'd never let go. It went on like this for a couple of minutes until I had the courage to finally tell him what happened. There were times when I would stutter and wouldn't know what to say but Crush made sure to let me know that I could take my time. He reassured me by saying that everything would be okay. I hope he's right.

"Hey, why don't we go eat something? I'm sure those fishcakes couldn't have been enough. Come on, it'll be my treat." He smiled and I agreed, smiling weakly. On the way to the cafeteria, we didn't say much. Neither did we once we started eating. It didn't really matter because the only thing I could think of was Anh. When would she wake up? What would happen if we couldn't get the bills paid in time or even worse what would happen if she died? But all those thoughts left me once I heard Crush calling my name.

"Hey Cherie, are you okay?" He asked. "You haven't even taken a bite of your sandwich. I looked at my sandwich and looked back at Crush's which was already devoured.

"O-oh sorry about that.I'm just worried about my sister. I don't think I have much of an appetite right now, sorry."

"No worries, by the way, isn't your birthday in a few days? Well, guess what? It just so happens there's a three-day lantern festival and there's one on your birthday! We should go." He suggested with a smile. I totally forgot about my birthday. I don't even remember the last time I celebrated it. Anh would always work and work, and well...there was no one else. So just thinking about celebrating my birthday with Crush made me happy. However, I wasn't so sure if I could go since I had to be in the hospital if ever woke up.

"I would love to but" I looked away as he stared at me with a sad face "If Anh isn't awake by that time, I would have to stay with her in case she wakes up. I hope you understand." I saw how disappointed he was and I felt guilty knowing it was my fault he felt this way. But I just had to stay with Anh. I really hope she wakes up before then.

"Don't worry about it, but if that's the case, I still think we should do something to celebrate." "Yeah, definitely" I replied.

We stayed there for a bit and walked back to Anh's room where I saw a nurse come up to me. I started feeling nervous about what she would say but thankfully enough she said that Anh was doing better and was expected to wake up soon. I was filled with joy as soon as I heard those words. I turned around and saw that Crush seemed almost as happy as I was. I ran to give him a hug and he hugged me back. I couldn't wait for her to wake up. We let go and Crush suggested I go to sleep.